"A few years ago, the city council of Monza, Italy, barred pet owners from keeping goldfish in curved goldfish bowls. The measure's sponsor explained the measure in part by saying that it is cruel to keep a fish in a bowl with curved sides because, gazing out, the fish would have a distorted view of reality. But how do we know we have the true, indistorted picture of reality? Might not we ourselves be inside some big goldfish bowl and have our vision distorted by an enormous lens? The goldfish's picture of reality is different from ours, but can we be sure it is less real?" (Stephen Hawking, The Grand Design)

Indiana Snow Penises Given Generous Local News Coverage: "Lafayette, Indiana has a snow problem on their hands, but it isn't the 'snowpocalypse' everyone else has been talking about. Local news station WLFI 18 filed this generous report about a neighborhood that was quite upset with one house's lawn decorations: snow sculptures representing male genitalia".

Don't know much about history
Don't know much biology
Don't know much about a science book
Don't know much about the French I took
But I do know that I love you
And I know that if you love me too
What a wonderful world this would be

Don't know much about geography
Don't know much trigonometry
Don't know much about algebra
Don't know what a slide rule is for
But I do know one and one is two
And if this one could be with you
What a wonderful world this would be

Now, I don't claim to be an "A" student
But I'm trying to be
For maybe by being an "A" student baby
I can win your love for me

"(...) Why don’t I believe in God? No, no no, why do YOU believe in God? Surely the burden of proof is on the believer. You started all this. If I came up to you and said, 'Why don’t you believe I can fly?' You’d say, 'Why would I?' I’d reply, 'Because it’s a matter of faith'. If I then said, 'Prove I can’t fly. Prove I can’t fly see, see, you can’t prove it can you?' You’d probably either walk away, call security or throw me out of the window and shout, 'F—ing fly then you lunatic'.(...)

'Do unto others...' is a good rule of thumb. I live by that. Forgiveness is probably the greatest virtue there is. But that’s exactly what it is - a virtue. Not just a Christian virtue. No one owns being good. I’m good. I just don’t believe I’ll be rewarded for it in heaven. My reward is here and now. It’s knowing that I try to do the right thing. That I lived a good life. And that’s where spirituality really lost its way. When it became a stick to beat people with. 'Do this or you’ll burn in hell'.

24 December 2010

EFTERKLANG - "MODERN DRIFT"

Real. Kristian Leth

"The new music video is based on Dyrehaven, den Romantiske Skov, a film from 1970 by the acclaimed artists Per Kirkeby and Jørgen Leth (Kristians father). The film geek will know that the album title Magic Chairs draws on inspiration from another film by Jørgen Leth".(daqui)